Thousand Foot Krutch - The End Is Where We Begin

The seventh album by Canadian rockers Thousand Foot Krutch is not only a return to musical form, it’s also a return to their industry roots—the band funded the album via Kickstarter instead of releasing it on their longtime label, Tooth & Nail. The change seems to have inspired them to cut loose and let everything fly. As a result, we get a handful of nü-metal rockers akin to Godsmack and Disturbed, a couple of Rage Against The Machine-via-Christian-rock groove-stompers (featuring rhymes such as “P.S.—don’t play me like a 3DS,” as heard on “I Get Wicked”), and maybe a little too much Nickelback/Theory Of A Deadman mid-tempo lurch.

While The End Is Where We Begin definitely has an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink creative vibe, Thousand Foot Krutch often pull off what many other bands would be hesitant to try. Maybe it’s because they are so damn endearing, or perhaps it’s that they have been in the polished-rock game so long, even their misguided notions are filtered through the modern-rock radio ennui which makes everything sound palatable. Even the sappy ballads (the sing-along “All I Need To Know,” the Creed-aping “So Far Gone”) don’t have that same upchuck-a-little-in-your-mouth quality possessed by most songs currently polluting the airwaves. And, yeah, you’d have to be pretty drunk to throw nü-metal dancefloor anthem “Courtesy Call” on at a party—but man, would it ever sound good.